Housing for illuminated sign



March22, 1960 J. E- LOVEJOY HOUSING FOR ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed Aug. 4,1958 INVENTOR.

JJJIES'EZLOVE'JOY Uni ed tate Paten 10 HOUSING FOR ILLUMINATED SIGNJames E. Lovejoy, San Francisco, Calif.

Application August 4, 1958, Serial No. 752,822

2 Claims. (Cl. 40-132) My present invention relates to illuminated signsand more particularly to a housing of novel construction for a sign thatcan be mounted against the interior surface of a window or othertransparent supporting medium.

An object of my invention is to provide a practical and inexpensivehousing for an illuminated sign to be mounted on the inside of anautomobile window or the like for viewing from the exterior thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a practical, strong andneat appearing housing for an illuminatedsign that is formed in a novelmanner from a single blank of material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel blank that maybe cut from sheet metal, cardboard or plastic and which when folded willprovide a housing having a front opening with a surrounding frameforming portion that gives the appearance of a solid box.

Another object of the invention is to provide a blank having fold linesand flaps by which a rectangular boxlike housing having an open face maybe formed and in which the open face or front forming portion isprovided with staggered tongue-like members which when folded in willengage with slots in the back portion of the housing as a means forreinforcing the sides thereof.

Other objects and advantages will be in part evident to those skilled inthe art and in part pointed out hereinafter in connection with theaccompanying drawing, wherein there is shown by way of illustration andnot of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout theseveral views:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line I-I of Figure3, looking in direction of arrows,

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section view taken along line II-IIof Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a third angle projection taken from Figure 1, showing thehousing as it appears when viewed through a pane of glass or othertransparent material,

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line IVIV of Figure 3,looking in direction of arrows, and

Figure 5 is a developed view of the blank from which the housing isformed.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is now madeto the accompanying drawing wherein the numeral designates generally alight enclosing housing having an open front constructed in accordancewith the invention.

As shown in Figure l, the housing 10 forms a rectangular enclosurehaving closed ends and side portions with a rectangular opening 11 atits face or front side through which light from an electric bulb 12 isprojected both directly and by reflection from the inside of the housingwhich will preferably be of a light reflecting character. As shown inthe drawing, the electric bulb 12 is partially enclosed by a translucentshade 13 through which subdued light will be transmitted to the openface of the housing and other light rays will be reflected from theback, top and bottom surfaces of the housing.

The housing 10 is formed from a blank having foldable flaps andassociated foldable tongues which when assembled will provide thehousing with multiple ply end walls and a reinforced multiple ply flange14 at each end of its open side or face 11 to which conventional vacuumcups 15, as shown in Figure 2, are attached for securing the housing 10upon the inner surface of a window glass 16 or other suitabletransparent support. When the housing is fully assembled and equippedwith the electric light 12 and mounted upon a window 16, it will appearas shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. In this figure the electric light12 is shown as carried by a socket 17 that projects through the bottomof the housing and it carries an extension cord 18- having a plug at itsextreme end that is adapted for insertion into the cigar lighter outletof an automobile.

In this showing, as is also shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, therectangular opening 11 at the face or open side of the housing 10 has aframing surface along its top and bottom edges that is relatively widerthan would normally be the case if it were not for a feature of thepresent invention, which as illustrated in these figures of the drawingsprovides a folded surface 20 along the upper and lower sides of theopening 11. This feature,-

as will now be described, consists in forming-theblanlcfrom which thehousing 10 is formed with a plurality of tongue portions 21 which whenfolded in, in the manner to be described, will act to also reinforce thetop and bottom walls of the housing.

Upon referring to Figure 5 of the drawings, it will be noted that thesingle blank has two spaced longitudinally extending fold lines 2 whichwhen folded define the upper and lower outer limits of the front of thehousing 10 and fold lines 23 which define the back surface of thehousing. A tab 24 below the lower fold line 23 as here shown is securedto the outside top surface of the housing when finally folded. At theends of the blank form there are two spaced flaps 25 which overlap atthe ends of the housing and projecting from the bottom forming portionthere is a flap 26 that will fold over the flaps 25 when assembled. Theends of the frame forming portion at the opening 11 in the front of thehousing is shown as having holes 27 and extending from the flaps 25 and26 there are respective tabs 28 and 29 which carry holes 30 that willregister with the holes 27 at the front of the housing when the housing10 is completely formed. In this manner, there is provided three plywalls at the ends of the housing 10 and a four ply flange at the pointwhere the vacuum cups 15 are secured. This forms a strong constructionwhich will stand up under considerable use. As another important featureof this invention, it will be noted that the upper and lower edges ofthe opening 11 in the housing 10 are defined by two fold lines 31 fromwhich the interleaving tabs 21, hereinabove referred to, extend. Thesetabs 21 each have a reduced tip portion 32 that is adapted to projectthrough slots 33 formed along the fold lines 23 which define the back ofthe housing and in this manner there is formed a wide frame-like surfacearound the opening 11 at the front of the housing and between the foldlines 22 and 31. At this point, it will be noted that the central tab 21is here shown as having a circular opening 34 which will register with asimilar opening 35 formed in the bottom surface of the housing throughwhich the lamp supporting socket 17 is projected and secured.

When in use, it is contemplated that the opening 11 of the housing 10will be covered with a transparent sheet of material having printedmatter formed thereupon with the outlines of the opening 11. This sheetPa.tented Mar. 22 1960 any material which a storekeeper .or a driver ofan auto-- mobile may want to transmit. A practical use forjrny devicewill also be found in identifying the automobiles of a funeralprocession by providing such a sign with the word funeral and mountingthe housing upon the inside surface of a windshield so that theautomobiles in a particular procession will be recognized and thecutting in of trafiic thus avoided.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose myinvention so that the same can be readily understood, described andillustrated a specific form and arrangement, I desire to have itunderstood that this invention is not limited to the specific formdisclosed, but may be embodied in other ways that will suggestthemselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that thisinvention is new and all such changes as come within the scope of theappended claims are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A rectangular housing for an illuminated sign having an open frontarea and a co-planar frame forming area around said opening all formedfrom a single blank of sheet material, and characterized by the factthat the frame forming area along the upper and lower sides of saidopening are stabilized by projecting tongues cut in staggered relationin the area forming the opening in said blank, said tongues when foldedinto the housing providing a rigid support for the inner edge of saidframe forming portion along the upper and lower sides of said openingwhen projected into aligned accommodating slots formed along the foldline at the back of said housing.

2. A housing for an illuminated sign of the character described,comprising asingle sheet of foldable material having longitudinallyextended fold lines defining an elongated rectangular box likestructure, and flaps extending fromthe back and the two sides of the boxwhen formed for closing the end thereof, a foldable flap at the ends ofthe bottom of the box when formed, foldable tabs on said end flapsadapted and arranged to interleave and reinforce the front wall of thebox at its ends and characterized by the fact that the front of said boxhas inwardly disposed fold lines defining the top and bottom edges of asight opening therein and having staggered cuts at the ends and withinthe area of said sight opening that form staggered tongue like portionswhich when folded inwardly along said inwardly disfi posed fold lineswill reinforce the open side of said housing and provide a rigid framelike surface about the sight opening in the front thereof.

Silberstein Feb. 24, 1931 Tabor -a Aug. 3, 1931

